Kyle’s Extra Credit Assignment

Townhall.com ^ | October 24, 2014 | Mike Adams

[Nervous Tick]

>> If a teacher actually did this they are a first rate jerk.

Mike Adams is not a jerk of any rate.

[Leaning Right]

Bending the rules to accommodate his situation simply lowers the bar.

You certainly make a very good point there. I do not fault Adams for refusing extra credit. I fault him - greatly - for the sarcastic and humiliating way that he did it.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Some might see themselves in a mirror, but in a more candid form?

[dfwgator]

"He used.........sarcasm."

[HiTech RedNeck]

Some folks rank moralizing above everything that makes God who He is. I would say this holds true for the Christianized Adams.

[Vigilanteman]

Yep, but I've also got to cut the teacher a little slack based on his previous encounters with this student: asking what was going to be on the exam, parading out his medical conditions for sympathy and the like.

So, yeah, the student is not without fault. But asking to do extra work for extra credit isn't ground for the tirade.

[Leaning Right]

what he wanted was a way to avoid the consequences of his actions...

Perhaps. But as I mentioned in my post #22, my issue was with the humiliating way Adams turned down the request for extra credit. Students rarely learn anything of value when they are humiliated by a teacher.

The situation is somewhat different in the drill sergeant-recruit dynamic. But that's a different situation.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Wrong — now this is not an unrepentable sin, but wrong.

[dfwgator]

But asking to do extra work for extra credit isn't ground for the tirade.

It's as good as any. Who knows, fast forward 20-30 years, when "Kyle" is a success, he may point to this as his wake-up call.

[dfwgator]

Seems to me Kyle needed to get out of Namby-Pamby Land.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Or it might have turned him away from God... taking this as what the visibly Christian Adams is really all about, and Adams will later have to answer to God why someone spent time in the wilderness who otherwise didn’t have to.

[Leaning Right]

"He used.........sarcasm."

Funny how almost every situation in life can be related to either a Monty Python saying or a Seinfeld saying!

By the way, I wonder how many folks under 50 would have recognized your Monty Python reference there.

[Albion Wilde]

Adams teaches adults criminal justice. He is not teaching elementary school. He is also known for "teaching by sarcasm" in his blogs and columns. In fact, he is very well known as a conservative and has spoken at CPAC. He recently won a very hard-fought victory for conservatives discriminated against by universities.

So I'm on Team Adams, having taught college students myself and having listened to some of the lamest excuses imaginable from slackers. Once in awhile, if the student actually had talent and potential, I went ahead and gave a D, and more than one of those gals then brought their performance up. If others left the program, good riddance and more time and energy available to the motivated students. In colleges, a lot of kids are taking up space on their parent's dime, wasting the opportunity and lowering the tone for the kids who are working two jobs to stay there. I have no patience for hand-holding with those sorts. And as I earlier noted, it sounds like Adams knew exactly what type of student he was dealing with.

[caligatrux]

Did this actually happen?

I think it would have been reported in the form of a lawsuit filed by the student's parents if it had actually happened.

[mmichaels1970]

Get a teaching degree, enter the classroom and at the end of the year re-read this column. Then tell me if he is a jerk, or just completely in touch with reality.

He's a jerk, at least in the specific case of this response. I don't need a teaching degree to determine that. I have four idiot teenagers and I know that classrooms full of morons are very common. But people need to exhibit better professionalism than that.

My brother is a teacher, my sister-in-law is a teacher, my cousin is a teacher, to name a few. I believe they'd all agree that this response lacks professionalism.

This would not be terribly surprising to me given your behavior this semester. Recall that you once asked the following question during a test review session: “Dr. Adams, what particular cases should we focus on (emphasis mine) as we prepare for the next exam?”

Wow...this kid is certainly a discipline problem for asking a question that was rightly not answered. Bad question? Yes. Bad behavior? Please.

Also, recall that after I specifically told you not to disclose personal medical information to me you came into my office and announced that you were “bi-polar.” In fact, you began your sentence by saying “I know we’re not supposed to tell you this, but …”

Sounds like grounds for expulsion to me. I'm sure if you emailed him to let him know that you would be missing class because you were sick with the flu, he could have you brought up before the disciplinary review board. /s

The good news is that you will have earned ten points on your final average. The bad news is that it will have to be credited towards the ten points I just deducted from your average for asking me to give you something you did not earn.

A simple "no" would have sufficed.

IMHO, the teacher needs to find a new profession. He'd probably fit into the IT world pretty well.

[xzins]

It’s probably safe to assume this prof is not at a public university. Otherwise, they’d have him licking Kyle’s boots inside of an hour.

[mmichaels1970]

I do not fault Adams for refusing extra credit. I fault him - greatly - for the sarcastic and humiliating way that he did it.

I concur.

[kevkrom]

I fault him - greatly - for the sarcastic and humiliating way that he did it.

Which is why he anonymized the student and assigned a fictitious name. This way he gets to drive the point home and not publicly humiliate the student at the same time.

It will probably also serve to prevent future occurrences of students slacking off all semester and begging for extra credit assignments at the end to make up for it.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And sarcasm by definition is a low blow. Remember that Adams took on the mantle of Christ when he declared Christian faith.

Enrolling in a formal class and proceeding according to its preset plan is only one way to gain knowledge. Out of fairness to other students in the same class, the rules shouldn’t be bent except for bona fide emergencies, but perhaps things like tutoring and/or dropping the class to be re-enrolled in the future would help a student in difficulties pass in the future. None of this gets suggested as far as I see. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

[terycarl]

the most rare of all species is the conservative college professor!!